Southern California -- this just in

Shift of border between Los Angeles and Orange counties to be considered

April 5, 2011 | 10:28
am

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is expected to consider holding a public hearing on a proposal to cede 42 acres of L.A. County land to Orange County -- and annexing about 36 acres from the neighboring county.

The proposal was initiated by Orange County’s Board of Supervisors, which is seeking to simplify the border between Long Beach in L.A. County and the cities of Seal Beach and Los Alamitos in Orange County, as well as the unincorporated community of Rossmoor. None of the disputed land is inhabited.

The idea is to more cleanly divide L.A. and Orange Counties between the San Gabriel River, Coyote Creek and the 605 Freeway. Surprisingly, some parts of Orange County leak west of those dividing lines, while parts of L.A. County creep east of them.

For example, Seal Beach has control of a 4-acre plot of land known as College Estates Park that is west of the San Gabriel River. Apart from its river boundary to the east, it is surrounded on three sides by Long Beach. Visitors would have to drive into Long Beach to reach the park.

In another odd configuration, Long Beach controls some areas east of the San Gabriel River: part of a bike path north of Marina Drive bridge, part of the Seal Beach Trailer Park, and the parking lot behind the Oakwood Apartments. Under the proposal, Seal Beach would take over 5 acres of that land from Long Beach.

One of the single largest transfers of land would be Los Alamitos’ annexation of about 37 acres of a vacant, needle-shaped island administered by Long Beach that is sandwiched between the San Gabriel River and the Los Alamitos Channel.

Perhaps the most incongruous border involves five residential parcels along Toland Avenue, which straddles the counties. The homes themselves are in Los Alamitos, but most of their backyards are in the Long Beach. The proposal would put the entire residential parcels within the control of Los Alamitos.

The proposal will not fix all the peculiarities of the L.A.-Orange counties border. There is a triangle-shaped cluster of homes along Halbrite Avenue in Long Beach, east of the San Gabriel River, that is surrounded by the Orange County cities of Los Alamitos and Cypress. That community will not be affected by this proposal.

If supervisors decide to approve the public hearing Tuesday, it will be held during the Board of Supervisors meeting at 9:30 a.m. May 10 at the Los Angeles County Hall of Administration at 500 West Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles.